By Evelyn Kwamboka at The Hague
Even as the defence teams are making final preparations for Wednesday’s start of the second round of confirmation of charges hearings at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has a surprise.
The prosecutor has picked a battle-hardened team of eight experienced prosecutors, some of whom honed their skills working cases for the ICC in Africa, to square it out with the defence counsel of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Civil Service Francis Kirimi Muthaura and Postmaster General Hussein Ali, after making his opening statement tomorrow.
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta plans to give his defence and be cross-examined by the prosecution when his turn comes. Photo: File/Standard |
Adeboyejo has worked at the International Criminal Court for Rwanda (ICTR) as a prosecutor and handled the case against Pauline Nyiramasukuko and the former commandant of the non-commissioned officers’ school in Butare, Colonel Tharacisse Mvunyi.
Based on her submissions and evidence before the ICTR case, the court slapped a 50 plus years jail sentence on Mvunyi.
Adeboyejo has also served as a legal officer at the ICC’s Office of Public Counsel for Victims.
She is to be assisted by prosecution counsel Adeboye Akingbolahan, Olivia Struyven, Desiree Lurf, Shamiso Mbivso, Ramu Bittaye, Arthur Siribu and Nawamaka Enjebe.
Stuyven is a prosecution lawyer in the case against Democratic Republic of Congo’s rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.
She has been working for the ICC since December 2003 and was among the first staff members of the Office of the Prosecutor where she worked on organizational issues before working the Ugandan case on Joseph Kony for the Office of the Prosecutor.
Struyven worked as a research assistant for the United Nations and commercial lawyer for the Brussels Office of the law firm Linklaters.
The defence counsel for the three accused also comprises of foreign and local lawyers with vast experience in international cases touching on crimes against humanity.
On Monday, they worked hand in hand with their case managers, to ensure that all was well.
Moreno-Ocampo and Adeboyejo will ask the court to confirm charges of murder, forcible transfer of persons, rape, persecution and other inhuman acts for the suspect’s alleged roles during the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
Closed session
The prosecution will rely on witness statements and other material, other than 10 witnesses it had initially lined up to testify against the suspects at the hearing.
It is one of the prosecution’s batches of evidence to be relied on that stung the defence team, forcing it to apply for the hearing to be postponed, which the court rejected.
Mr Morris Anyah will speak for the victims of the 2007 violence without any knowledge of what is contained in documents filed by the prosecution and defence.
Representing 233 victims, Anyah, lost his bid to have access to the information after the court ruled in favour of the prosecution and defence.
The ruling gave the two parties a sigh of relief that the evidence would remain confidential, and the lawyer will not have access even in closed session.
But the ICC Appeals Chamber is also yet to rule on an application by Moreno-Ocampo seeking to have one of Muthaura’s lawyers, Mr Essa Faal, disqualified on grounds that he had access to information touching on the suspects during the time he worked in the prosecutor’s office.
This means Faal is free to defend Muthaura based on the Pre-Trial Chamber II’s decision to clear him.
Most of the defence teams arrived at The Hague three days ago, while case management teams have been here since Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Postmaster General Hussein Ali appeared before Pre-Trial Chamber II in April.
Uhuru is planning to give his defence and be cross-examined by the prosecution when his turn comes.
Muthaura was expected at The Hague by Monday evening while Uhuru and Ali arrive on Tuesday in the morning.
Sources told The Standard only one of the suspects will stay at the luxurious Steigenberger Kurhaus Hotel located at the beach side of Den Haag (The Hague). The other two are expected to stay in different places.
Moreno-Ocampo obtained summons for them to appear before the court on March 8, following a successful application he made before Pre-Trial Chamber II judges Ekaterina Trendafilova, Hans-Peter Kaul and Cuno Trafusser.
Since they made the appearance, the suspects, through their lawyers, have filed several applications mainly challenging issues touching on evidence.
Uhuru left last evening for the Netherlands, but his four lawyers Steven Kay QC, Gillian Higgins, Desterio Oyatsi and Mbuthi waiting for their visas to be processed.
"They requested the visas with the rest of the team, but by 3.30 pm when the visa processing office closed at the embassy, they had not been processed," said a source at the DPM’s office.
They will probably catch this evening’s flight to Amsterdam.
Uhuru was on Monday evening seen off by a large contingent of MPs allied to the PNU at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
"Mheshimiwa, kindly join us at JKIA, today 19th Sept 2011 to bid farewell to the DPM as he proceeds to The Hague," read a short text message sent to one of the MPs by Kabete legislator Lewis Nguyai.
Ali’s application
Muthaura and Ali were expected on Monday evening. Most of the lawyers are renting apartments while some are staying at the Movenpick Hotel, situated in the historical centre of Voorburg, which is a four minutes’ train ride from The Hague.
The central location of the hotel provides an ideal base for business travellers to hold conferences and visitors wishing to explore the city’s artistic and cultural scene.
The hotel can also be easily reached from the airport.
Meanwhile, Postmaster General Hussein Ali has filed an application challenging the admissibility of the allegations against him.
In his application, Ali says the crimes do not amount to crimes against humanity and there is no evidence from the prosecution linking him to an organisation or State policy to commit such crimes.
